The technological advances transforming "Edison’s 130-year-old industry" promise to revolutionize the way light is integrated in our homes, workplaces, and cities.
As "the last industrial-age analog technology" is digitized, Felicity Barringer looks at "the fundamental rethinking of lighting now under way in research labs, executive offices and investor conferences."
"Innovations on the horizon range from smart lampposts that can sense gas hazards to lights harnessed for office productivity or even to cure jet lag. Digital lighting based on light-emitting diodes — LEDs — offers the opportunity to flit beams delicately across stages like the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge — creating a light sculpture more elegant than the garish marketers’ light shows on display in Times Square, Piccadilly Circus and the Shibuya district in Tokyo."
She explains other possible applications, such as lampposts that function as "nodes in a smart network that illuminate spaces, visually monitor them, sense heat and communicate with other nodes and human monitors."
"James Highgate, an expert on the new technology who runs an annual LED industry conference, sees a transition period ahead 'for the next three to five years, until the eight billion sockets in the U.S. get filled' with LEDs. 'Some people will never change,' he added. 'They’ll be in the alleys buying 100-watt incandescents.'”
FULL STORY: New Technology Inspires a Rethinking of Light
D.C. Residents Fight Light Pollution
New LED lighting has raised concerns about the health and environmental impacts of excessive or harsh lighting.
Looking Back to Find the Road Ahead
In the wake of massive power outages in the Northeast, lighting designer Linnaea Tillett describes pre-industrial techniques for lighting and wayfinding that just might be worth revisiting.
Cities of Light
Leni Schwendinger says that cities don't pay enough attention to the way lighting effects the built environment. She's currently working on the lighting for Times Square's new pedestrianized streets.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
New Forecasting Tool Aims to Reduce Heat-Related Deaths
Two federal agencies launched a new, easy-to-use, color-coded heat warning system that combines meteorological and medical risk factors.
AI Traffic Management Comes to Dallas-Fort Worth
Several Texas cities are using an AI-powered platform called NoTraffic to help manage traffic signals to increase safety and improve traffic flow.
Podcast: Addressing the Root Causes of Transit Violence
Deploying transit police is a short-term fix. How can transit agencies build sustainable safety efforts?
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Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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